Monday, March 30, 2009

Mother Nature must have heard me mention the possibility of lots more snow at this time of year. I have a mental image of her looking a lot like Mrs. Claus... she hears you when you're sleeping...she knows if you're awake... you know, ... like that. She knows everything. And, she aims to please....

It was snowflaking when we went to bed and this accumulated by morning.... about 5 or so new inches.... heavy and wet. An hour shoveling with all the city sidewalk that wraps around our corner lot.

It was heavy and wet... there was a trail of clothing behind me .... coat, gloves...sweater... finally I had on just my t-shirt and cords... must have barely been cold enough to make it snow instead of rain. The rest of the week will be about the same... -3C and snow flurries several of the days...

Today it is lovely and sunny...with the very usual blue sky in winter that I love. So the opposite of where my sister lives...she never sees the sun through cloud and fog...til about .... oh, well, soon I guess. They are usually socked in from October til March in most of B.C.

Snapped this an hour ago. It is pretty mild out there...yesterday's snow melted off and now... the birds have a rustic skating rink. Frozen solid ...ice even overflowing the edges. I can hear the birdies chirping away...they sound happy enough....even the robins are joining the chorus of finches, chickadees and sparrows. I have no idea what the poor robins manage to find to eat 'til the snow goes and the ground thaws. I imagine them hopping around behind a sparrow trying to figure out what it is they find...and trying to do the same...probably looking slightly confused at the slim pickin's.

There you have it girls.... my photo a day.... make that photos a day....have a good one. Off to work on my dolly a bit now..... oh, and second java in the sunshine streaming in through the kitchen window. Craft room be darned.... no sun on that side of the house .... hahahha..... I've always thought that a lovely, sunny room covering the whole of the large double garage would have been the perfect place to build a hobby area..... hmmm... NO! what am I saying!? We have been renovating this place for 23 years now.... I better not even think it out loud or somebody will be drawing plans on paper napkins or graph paper...getting ready to tear things apart. He's a bit like Mother Nature in that respect; aims to please. No, mum's the word....definitely. That's it,.... totally mum. The laundry room still has no sink...arrgghhhhh! soon though...soon, we can reorganize the garage, park the van outside and get the hole cut in the arborite for that...and do some plumbing...yaaaaay! It will be the most beautiful and functional laundry room ever, and at the risk of bragging... (please don't hate me)... the most storage ever. I still have empty cupboards and drawers... lol... . Still looking for a beautiful mirror for the room...it is a beautiful room..it deserves the best....

Saturday, March 28, 2009

.... where the heck did Saturday go? ...can it be Saturday tomorrow again so I can get re-organized?

While we are in the deep snow topic...here's one from Minnesota.... ...I think it was Norway or Austria for the deep snow of yesterday...although we get plenty right here in the mountainous areas of Canada. The skiers love it... well, not that deep....but, the nice powder of a new snowfall makes them happy.

This is Austria in February.. record snowfall there this year. If you can't make it out, that's a vehicle under all the snow... ... this is great. It makes me happy that we have just a bit in the yard. Although it isn't over yet...and we have had spring storms that dumped 17 inches on us in years gone by.

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a bit of baking today....... Pistachio and Cranberry biscotti....

a bit of painting...... think I have the arms and legs about the same colour now... (next time I'm using flesh coloured fabric.. the order is in ..) So, now I'm working on her top.... then will attach the legs... then the arms...etc... still plenty to do. I was talking to a doll club member and mentioned that I need to look for some pics of fancy Jimmy Choo flats... maybe Manolo Blahnik..... she had a good laugh. But, I do want to make them a bit special.... mini Project Runway at home.....

Thursday, March 26, 2009

..... that's nothing new. I make life difficult for myself...nothing new there either.... but, I am slowwwwly...ever so slowly.... learning lessons. Always a good sign, right?

...body parts ... yup, still lying..(or hanging when drying)... all over the place. Next time, I use flesh coloured fabric unless I am painting a specific "thing" or pattern on said appendages. It just happened that at this particular time I had some tight weave lighter (way too light as it turned out) fabric hanging around. I decided, without thought to consequence, to use it for the arms and legs after I did the face of paperclay and painted it such a light flesh tone. I really liked the lighter colour and didn't want to change that...so thought to make the rest of the body match her face. Not such a simple fix. At all. It is proving to be pretty darn tricky to get the colours to match...and to further complicate matters....even the arms and legs ended up being of different fabrics...because I ran out of the first fabric whilst trying for one pair of great legs..... hahahhah..yep....I'm a nut job. Oh, well, today I am ordering caucasian flesh fabric...thanks for the site Linda.... before I am tempted to begin any other doll. Because of all a sudden, I have another idea for something... make that "someone"....

My beautiful flowers are full bloom now...and look amazing...

How cute is this little guy? A company that builds pig launchers and other pipeline cleaning stuff was giving out these keyrings at a meeting. Somebunny brought one home for me.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Snow still here...but...the day was lovely and sunny... the main roads were almost clear... and the cul de sac streets were mushy by suppertime. I was busy by then making a yummy scalloped potato dish... with onions, celery, fresh parsley and some assorted spices.... mmmm.....

Didn't get much done on my doll...none actually. Had to do some running around and did look for some fabrics ...still trying to decide what she is going to wear. It's almost as painful as shopping for clothes for me...ick... I am missing a few genes....the shopping gene along with the maternal gene. Probably a few more as well, but those spring to mind.

Not much to show for my day, but I wanted to post something for my photo a week group just to let you know I haven't forgotten. I'm off to check out what you have all been up to today... .. much more interesting than mine today I'm sure....

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Well, I sure feel like it. I could just put it up and not trim it... it already has lights on... just for a day or two.... while the fresh snow is on the ground?.... the neighbours could have a chuckle... ??

well, maybe a decorator tree or two then...

Guess I could just close the curtains instead...and not look at the dog sled teams mushing by the front window... just kidding...but, honestly if there were some in the neighbourhood...they would love this. Mother Nature gave us a gift..... 6 inches of fresh snow overnight. It was +14 C the other day and would have rivaled any great summer's day. I was even thinking about my golf clubs... of course, it is months away from anything like that around here......but, you know.. just thinking ....

It took well over an hour of heavy shoveling to do the sidewalks and driveway...ohhhh it is wet and heavy. The weatherman was calling for +11C this afternoon...I don't think it will reach that, but the sun is poking out now...and maybe it will melt a bit, but I bet the roads are horrible. Staying home.

Mr. B. brought home some flowers yesterday ..... I'll look at those instead.... whew... that's more like it. A touch of greenery makes it so much more springlike ....

even tried a stem in my new little flower holder... looks kind of cute.... like a plant....

Friday, March 20, 2009

I got a new sister! Yup.... Linda picked me to be a blog sister. She doesn't have any sisters and wants to adopt one..or maybe even two or three... and she picked me! I feel pretty honoured.Heh..heh.... little does she know what she's in for...I'm reeeelly bossy!

Ya gotta love bloggers though .... especially "the fun (or funny) ones and Linda is all of that. Her latest post will crack you up.... she is planning to be in the Guinness Book of World Records...

Many's the day I'd like to pretend I have an extra sister as well... so, in that vein, ... I'll invite a few ladies to join the sisterhood group. I'll choose a few outside our immediate group of photo a day gals because they've probably been tagged already or will be soon if not... ....

In other news.... there are legs hanging all over the place around here. Dangling from lamps, sewing machines,... window cranks. However, I did read a page that was interesting today and it said to use hangars to hang things from while waiting for them to dry. Now, why didn't I think of that?

It's been a busy week of sewing up legs...and sewing up legs...and sewing up even more darn legs. It would probably help if I knew something about sewing. I couldn't seem to make two that were the same size to save my soul. I finally figured out that if I placed the pattern at the same angle on the fabric ... it worked much better. Why on earth it took me so long to figure it out I have no idea. Even then... it just seems like one teeeeensy angle different on one teeeensy stitch and a knee becomes so much more pointy than the other..... whew.... what a rigamarole just to get one pair of great legs. Of course, it's because the grain of the fabric was different on each leg...therefore, when stuffing...it just became plumper or thinner or longer or shorter...or ..well, you get the idea. I made more than a mental "note to self" this time. This time I am making notes on paper. As I go along. Mr. BV's latest, greatest suggestion. Well, really, why would I expect myself to remember all the tips and tricks from one year to the next? even Einstein made lots of notes..because he said it was silly to keep trivia in his head... stuff like his own phone number...hahahahha .. Besides... it has been a year since I made a doll. Seeing as I do so little sewing..I easily forget the sewing tips... like..... I could forget this as early as tomorrow morning. Maybe not.....

Then, I had a play with some Apoxy Sculpt and didn't have much luck there either. It's also been a year since I used that stuff. Don't get me wrong, it is fun stuff..just seemed my hands didn't know what to do with it anymore..... .. what a whiner eh? But, it's not all bad.... the shoes that definitely didn't cut the mustard?...I saved to play with . Well, to practice some painting before I try it on the good pair....

After all that moaning, I think you guys deserve some tea and cookies...whaddya say? Percy says he'll wait tables.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Here's some green for ye.... in case I don't get around to posting tomorrow.... and also a photo of the week for my group doing that. Not that I don't put a picci on every single post..just that I don't post every single day. But, when I do..it's not just words for me...no, no.... must have a pretty picci.....

Looked around the house and ... well, not much green that I thought photo-worthy today. Well, other than plants perhaps... but, all of a sudden, my eye caught a fun thing with the teensiest bits of green on it. My elf chair. Although, at our house..it is a chair for little bears right now.

I made this back in '05..while in England visiting a doll maker. She got tired working on her doll and said...let's try something else...so we played with some newspaper, wire, Apoxy Sculpt and we made a little chair for a fairy or an elf.... then continued work on our dolls while waiting for the chair to dry (which take about 24 hours to make sure)

Don't know if you can see..but we poked some little holes in the wet material so we could hangsome beads through later..

We sprayed the whole chair with copper colour.. touched it up withsome darker colours and some golds here and there.. added beads and even put some gold and pearls in nooks and crannies...

Friday, March 13, 2009

Yes, indeed...my lucky day. Got some arms done for my wistful looking girl ... maybe that's what the wistful look is all about.... arms.... although she still doesn't have legs either, so she'll still be wondering and waiting........Haven't decided whether she is sitting or standing ...but leaning toward seated.... so... .. the legs are mostly in my head even if I have been playing with body parts from the odds and sods box.It has taken a few days....and there has been some cursing from time to time....but, finally I remembered a few things about making and turning fingers. Must make another doll before a year passes this time.... perhaps I will actually remember some of the tips and tricks. I stitched up the third set of arms/hands....and all went well. I must remember not to try to taper them... it makes the end of the fingers too tiny to get the turning tube in to the end. Can't turn 'em if you can't get something in there..... either a teensy hemostat or a turning tube.

The face I made is quite tiny...so, her hands just can't be big honking things..I want her to be dainty...and finally got some very tiny hands stitched and turned.

Here are my turning tubes for hands this miniscule... rod and tubes for aelerons for model planes.. from the hobby shop.

One of the best and cheapest purchases for doll making I ever made. I thnk they were about $4.99 a few years ago. The tube is larger than 1/16...but slightly smaller than 1/8 of an inch. The "rod" (although it is hardly a rod) ... lol...... is slightly larger than 24 guage beading wire... just over 1/16. So, you see why it was not a piece of cake when I kept making things difficult for myself by stitching fingers on a taper..not being able to get the tube inserted all the way...and therefore not being able to work the finger up the rod.... sheeesh.......Finally, one day I was talking to myself and muttering something about being able to turn a pretty small spaghetti strap when all of a sudden it came to me .. those are straight tubes!...aha!! one of those light bulb thingies....

I had a few of these.... blown seams....

But, finally this is the first good one...tube inserted... all the way to the end... worked the fingers down to about half way... then turned the hand. Had to cut really close to the stitches..so worked a bit of white glue into the seams on two fingers to help hold it.

grabbed the finger ends with the hemostat and voila..fingers...!

Got them all turned...stuffed each with a chenille stem. Wrapped the stems with white florist tape.. all the way to the top... it is my arm bone.

smoothed up the arm fabric .. and there we have it. Ready for some strategic small bits of stuffing.Dainty hands with lovely slender arms...

Friday, March 6, 2009

The weather has been perfect....for staying home and playing dolls that is. A cold front blew in.. a bit of drifting snow...and temperatures plummeted once again to wintery numbers (minus 20's at night and up to -13 to-15C in the daytime). However, the sky is clear and a pretty blue; the sun is brilliant...shining in through the kitchen window. I love to sit in the warmth of it and tell myself I'm still getting some Vitamin D, even through the glass....

I never actually "played" much with dolls as a kid...we didn't have many to begin with, but, sometimes got one for Christmas. I still have some squirreled away in a cedar chest. Remember those? I've always been that way ... sometimes a bit too careful..especially for a kid... but, we didn't have much so I guess I was making sure I kept what I had. I saved mine in pristine condition.

I still like to take out this little gal and look at her from time to time...Mandy Lou...I love her. Well, with the exception of that sorta scorch-y mark on the front of her dress that is .... I did that trying to iron it....sigh...what did we know..we were just little kids.....

Anybody have a Dennis the Menace? oh, brother...look at those dirty feet. Kid dirt I guess...and the rubber is a bit fragile..so I am not going to scrub them...maybe some day I might try cleaning them with some special thing..., but... maybe it is better to leave it... besides, it looks normal for him. Another of my kid dolls...

However, I did like paper dolls... maybe that's where all this doll making stuff started. I used to draw and colour new gowns for Katy Keene.. and other ladies... just by following the outline of their bodies and making a few alterations to the shape. Not that the clothing was too imaginative...we had no clue as to how the other half lived except from seeing the Sears catalogue, some comic books or maybe even the odd movie magazine we would see at the library or some neighbour's house. We sisters danced them around the kitchen table...and talked up a storm with each other's gals.... can't remember what we said, but I'm sure the conversation was scintillating ...

When it's cold outside ... baby .. it's also baking weather. The kitchen is the perfect place to be. The amazing scent of freshly baked whatever wafting about.... I love it. You know when you buy things on e-bay and they say, "From a non smoking environment"? Well, I wonder if any of my dolls and bears retain the scent of cinnamon buns? or lemon blueberry muffins?.... oh, the poor recipient!! ...hahahhahaha..... that ain't fair at all !!

Sitting in the warm Tuscan Peasant Bread scented kitchen, I painted the face on my latest experiment-with-paperclay... thanks Linda for mentioning gesso, but I'll have to try it next time...I was over eager. I just charged madly ahead and painted some flesh colour on her... then had fun doing some eyes. As you can see I even put a stroke of too-dark flesh on her neck. That can be fixed if I decide to finish her. She may never get finished as a doll, seeing as it/she began as a learning experience...but,...if I do finish her ...I was thinking... perhaps ice princess. But then, she looks a bit apprehensive.. perhaps a princess in waiting..or a little girl lost.... she just looks a bit confused to me.

I used several different colours of blue and am happy with the iris ... didn't do anything with the sclera as I left that part white when I painted on the flesh colour. It is the white of the unpainted clay. Very happy with the amount of detail I can get in an eye on the clay. I think gluing on some eyelashes would be a better idea than trying to draw lashes over the slightly raised eyelid ...

My first attempt at painting the flesh is not perfect...and I also experimented with some sandpaper after painting as you can see on the lower left cheek area. I now want to see if I can repaint that area and fix it. A lot of imperfections are noticeable up close...but, at a viewing distance...she is pretty acceptable. I want to get on with making several heads now and practice what I learned and see what else I can come up with in order to make the next ones better.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Plick, plick plick... all night in the downspout... which I actually didn't hear after putting in my earplugs. I can't sleep without them. Even the noise of the thermostat for the furnace scares me awake... I'm sure I've mentioned before what a notoriously poor sleeper I am. However, the past two weeks I have been trying Melatonin... which doesn't seem to help me fall asleep any sooner...but..... and BIG "but" here...does seem to help me stay asleep for longer at a time. I actually go for as long as 2, 3 or even 4 hours before waking....wheeeeeeeeeee what a concept. Usually I am awake every 20 mins or so, which makes me crazy. Maybe it is also the intensity and the duration of my workouts now. I've upped the ante. Personal trainers...which I don't have (wish I did), but do watch on tv and do read up on their info .. .... say we need to be working out over an hour per day for about 6 days a week to make a noticeable difference in strength and cardio.... along with changing our diet. Okay... so...I am. And...I'm feeling more energy, better strength, less pain in joints.. .. and even move with a lighter step... it's all good. And, if it is helping with extra sleep... ahhhh...so much better yet, eh?

Even though it was close to melting temperatures all night, this morning there is new ultra wet snow.... great.... the worst driving conditions...however, the sun IS trying its best to poke through the cloud cover and will likely burn things off by noon. The main roads should be pretty good by then too with the amount of traffic on them. Absolutely have to go to the grocery store today. For starters, I'm totally out of milk. Usually our 'fridge looks like a junior hockey player lives here. Several litres of "my" Skim, (for massive amounts of calcium to aid the Actonel for osteo, without the fat or cholesterol) Greg's whole milk, cuz he doesn't really like the skim... Vanilla Soy milk to add a little glug to disguise the taste of skim a bit.... and on the same crowded shelf...orange juice.... looks like Mother Hubbard's cupboard in there today. Bare. Naked.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More paperclay added to my face yesterday; more smoothing and fiddling. This time with the back side of the sandpaper after Kerry mentioned I could use just brown paper to sand it... It is very soft actually... and does disappear easily with just paper. Surprising that it can also be durable if it does that. Makes me wonder if it really will be very durable at all. However, perhaps once it is painted and then sealed...it will have more strength. But, now to find some info on painting. In the meantime...I was happily looking for bits to try as hair.... and just having some fun with her.

Monday, March 2, 2009

It's +9 C today..... woohoooooo ! It could be shortlived...but, who cares. The dirty snow is melting.... there are puddles by the shed and all around the shrub near it. It's funny how the snow gets crusty and firm after weeks and months. It melts underneath and the top is still mounded up.. like the pastry of a pie when you don't put in enough apples...

I've been trying to talk myself into going to the grocery store all morning...but it ain't happening I guess. I've been looking and phoning to see if anybody local has Hoffman fabric...I want to take a closer look at the new one for the 2009 Challenge... maybe...just maybe, I could make a doll using it.... but, I really need to see it close up first. My brain just won't imagine what it would actually be like "in person" from looking at pictures. I'm no good that way at all.... I need to touch it.

Bonnie Lee Fontaine has a paperclay beauty on her site. So...now, I absolutely want to try some paperclay too... I doubt I will get much done in the way of a body for lots of the heads I've been doing lately. It seems I just love to try out all the new-to-me techniques... see how it feels...to see it in my hands.... to feel the joy at having something cute, beautiful, unusual, or interesting "show up".

She gets her skin looking like porcelain.... so smooth and lovely.....

first efforts ... just adding some paperclay to a two piece cloth head.... uh...no porcelain beauty here... hahahhahah

I tried sanding it when it dried...to get the feel for that... I was just using sandpaper I found around here... obviously, I need to buy some fine grit paper.Then, of course just because I wanted to see how my fav...watercolour pencils.. work on this clay, I quickly coloured in some eyes.....

then, next day I played with more clay...look how you can change the whole shape just by adding a bit more here and there. I didn't want to put in glass eyes just for my first attempt... and then have to peel them out of a face... so just added a small rounded piece and pressed and formed it to make a raised eyeball area...then got to playing with some eyelid pieces... very tentative mostly... ... but...fun all the same.... ..I have not a clue what the heck I am doing...and it shows... hahhahaha....anybody got any good sites to check out some paperclay artwork? ...